Dec 27, 1999

Partha Majumder, 47
Anthropologist & Geneticist

ROOT CAUSE

You are where you come from. That's Partha Majumder's pet theory. "One of my interests," says the head of the Anthropology and Human Genetics Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, "is the peopling of India." Recent work by him on tribals and ethnic races of India has revealed that after modern humans came out of Africa, they arrived in India first. Conclusion: we are ancient, and, therefore, genetically diverse.

So? Majumder's work impacts upon the genetics of diseases in India. We inherit our diseases, so it helps to know our roots. His credentials are impeccable -- he is an elected member of the Human Genome Organisation. "The thrust of research in medical genetics in the next decade will be on common diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension," he predicts. And a real understanding of these diseases will emerge only when they are studied quantitatively. Mull over that while Majumder maps his data.

-Avirook Sen

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